Projects Model A pickup, my first build thread

thanks dude. i remember i asked you about the headlights on your roadster when we were at autorama. i can't remember what the combination of buckets and rings were but they are cool as hell. been meanin to ask ya. what are they again.

 

Glad to see this one coming together..Looks Nice

 

No sweat, they're '35 pickup buckets with '36 passenger car lenses and rings. They pop right together with no modification at all.

 

thanks. what bulb do you use?

 

hows the truck coming? Any updates?

 

unfortunatly no. i work in Ford protoype. we've been workin 10hr shifts 6-7 days a week since the begining of the year. i have removed the cowl/gas tank top and working on removing the remaining pieces of the old firewall. the goal is to finish up the frame and get it painted before the summer is over.

 

Nice build I just came across this thread as I am new to this site and build. I just bought a 30 Model pickup and in the beginning stages of tearing it down to build into a street rod. Question for ya, you mentioned in a previous post about not having to deal with Howell's from what you seen posted here. As mentioned being new to this site and new to building a street rod, I could use all the help on who to stay clear of and who is great to deal with. I need some body parts (dor skins, cowl patches, etc.) so any advice will be helpfull.
Thanks

 

brattons, snyders, macs, berts model a parts, are some good ones i've dealt with. not to be an ass but, and it's been said before, this site is about traditional hot rods and customs, not street rods. it might just seem like terminology but street rod conjures up images of disc brakes, pastel paint jobs etc, for me anyway. look around here, and you'll see what i mean. my truck will be all peroid parts. thats just how i like it. for example, CE, So-Cal etc dropped axles are good parts. i prefer my real ford model A axle that "296V8" a HAMB member dropped for me. part of the fun for me is tracking down vintage parts. good luck on your build and welcome aboard.

 

Well let me say maybe my terminology is/ was wrong ha, ha! I just got out of "Off Road Desert Racing" (Baja 1000, etc) so all of this is new to me (terminology that is). The wife said I needed a new hobby , as I was bored to hell doing nothing since selling off my race car. I found this 30 Model A pickup and have decided to turn it into a hot rod. I have spent some time at So Cal as they are only minutes from where I live. So your right no street rod! Thanks for clearing that up. I also found in my own backyard a great place that has vintage parts if interested (www.earlyfordstore.com)

 

Love the look, one more vote for unchanneled, it gives it a certain attitude.

 

it's funny because i had planned to channel it. the more I looked at it this way it just grew on me. i cant picture it any other way now. it just kind of made my mind up for me.

 

Great thread so far. I'll be watching closely as I just bought a 30-31 pick up in way worse shape than what you started with. Your pics are giving me plenty of reference points. Thanks and hope you get more garage time soon.

 

thanks. i've been diagnosed with this type of anemia that wont let my body process vitamin B or D from foods and it has my thyroid jacked too. garage time has been minimal. injections every week for rest of my life. should feel better in a few months doc says. good luck on your project, keep me posted.

 

Always fun to see a model a truck being built. They are definitely not that spacious inside.
A 7 " channeling of mine and an upcoming 4" top chop will force me to amputate a few limbs i reckon.

 

lol. this cab will not be channeled. it already had a 5" chop when i got it. you're gonna be a bit cramped i think. looks cool though. i got the F1 trans crossmember partially fitted the other day and in the frame. block and trans are in place and all looks good so far. front of engine needs to come up a bit. will put some pics up this afternoon. i hate when this pesky job of mine cuts into my HAMB time

 

Scott, hope you're feelin better soon... any prgoress is good progress. It sucks when work gets in the way, but it sure as hell beats the alternative! I used stock resilvered reflectors and fit (gasp!) halogen bulb sockets to them. I like to see where I'm going in the dark!

 

i have buckets, 2 pair. one i think is pass car and one commercial. i'm gonna have to send you pics so you can tell me which is which. thanks for the well wishes man. also i'm gonna PM you about some trans stuff.

 

Got my F1 crossmember finished and mounted in the frame today. My brother Keith and Big Ed helped out as usual. Next is the F1 steering box and column, clutch and brake pedals. After that the radius rod mounts front and rear. I'm going to try and mount the rears in the center to a ball so the whole thing pivots like it's supposed to and a torque arm or ladder bar type setup like the rolling bones. The frame was stretched and Z'd 7 3/8" to use a spring behind axle. Here are some new pics.

 

Thanks for making me want a Model A pickup even more than I already do!

 

Lol, but hey, who doesn't like a hot rodded Maverick? I grew up with one across the street from me. Gotta love em.

 

This is looking really great!

 

thanks man. its good to be working on it again. health, time and parts have caused a bit of a lag but things are starting to move forward again.

 

Just some new pics

 

Nice looking truck any picks of how you stretched and z'd the frame

 

I have better pics I can post but but I need to find them, measurements also. It still needs to be boxed but here's a couple for now.

So, here's what I did. It's just a variation of the way Vern Tardel/Mike Bishop do it in the book "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod" so read that first and this should make more sense. I had the frame apart. I took some heavy poster board and made a template of the last 3 feet of the rails and cut it out. The spring behind axle puts the center of the spring 7 3/8" further back than the spring over type. I laid the template out on the bench, picked 2 points 7 3/8" apart. (I picked a spot on the rear of the frame rail that would allow the rear radius rods enough clearance so they wouldn't hit the frame. They are closer to the frame after it is Z'd.) I drew a line on an angle from the rearward line at the top of the rail to the forward line at the bottom of the rail and cut it. Then took the cut rear portion, moved that piece back and up so the bottom of that rail made contact with the top of the front section. Made sure the top of the rail of both sections were parallel and stuck the template down to the bench, measured and all was good. I laid the rails out the same waycut them and built a jig to hold everything square and welded it together. I took some pieces of tube and filled in the top and bottom like they do in the book and welded it inside and out. The rear crossmember is connected in the stock holes so the frame is a bit wider from front to back than a stock frame. Like I said, it needs to be boxed still. I will post some measurements and pics of the template this week.

 

Thanks alot for the pics and info that looks great I was wanting to do the spring behind axle on mine and couldent figure out a way to make it look good the way you did it looks great. Thanks again

 

The truck is coming along nicely. Id say better un channeled with the chop.
Are you going to box the rails for additional strength ? as i noticed they havent been done yet.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Cool build thread. Great project.
How many leafs you are using in the rear?

 

yeah i'm going to box them, in the process of buttoning up the chassis now.

 

thanks. there are 6 leafs in the rear spring.